ALTHOUGH the Christmas break is little over a fortnight ago it ushers in a feeling. There is always a new spirit of camaraderie at the first meeting after the break. This is particularly noticeable at Dromahane now that it has taken over the fixture formerly held by Lisgoold.

Those of us in the north and east of the country had doubts about the meeting on the first Tuesday after Christmas due to the severe frost, but we need not have worried since, as we have found so often, Cork is a different world. Though a bitter wind put a nasty edge on the temperature, it did not deter a large crowd assembling for an excellent day’s racing. With race cards quickly sold out it was obvious that the attendance had exceeded the organisers’ expectations.

I noticed four British registered vehicles in the car park which, while they probably belonged to ex-pats returning for the holiday break, can only be seen as a very positive pointer.

FAMILIAR FACE

It was hard to go anywhere without running into a familiar face. One which I always look for at this time of year is my old friend Jack Murphy. Many years ago I upset Jack when writing a report in this publication that the Aghabullogue fixture run on his land was an unfashionable meeting. Things between us rapidly healed though we still joke about it to this day. I admire the way Jack has made his meeting such a notable date in the fixture list, so if you have nothing better to do this Sunday take a visit to Aghabullogue; while it may be a bit off the beaten track it invariably provides a good day out.

There was also a good array of bookmakers at Dromahane and this was again the case just five days later at Tinahely. Again there was a good crowd, no doubt encouraged by the decent weather conditions and later first race time than those experienced in November and December. The crowd appeared much larger than that which attended the October fixture at the track on a day of shirt sleeve weather. It just shows that with other counter attractions, point-to-points have a battle to draw customers at that time of year; the traditional spring session still exercises more fascination for the casual (paying) visitors.

It was the first time for many years that there was not a divided race at the Shillelagh’s January meeting but that did not detract from the day and I expect that nearly everyone there will have enjoyed their day and will come back for more in the future.